Chris Christie begins London visit at Arsenal football match

Chris Christie, the pugnacious, charismatic and occasionally controversial governor of New Jersey who is among the hopefuls jostling for the Republican presidency nomination next year, is in London this week on a schedule which includes a meeting with David Cameron.

While the visit is ostensibly aimed at boosting trade ties between the state he leads and the UK, Christie is also keen to burnish his experience of foreign policy matters ahead of an expected run for the Republican ticket. With a political career based entirely within New Jersey, Christie must seek to portray himself as a politician of broader experience, especially if the Democrat candidate ends up being Hillary Clinton, the former US secretary of state.

The visit began on Sunday with Christie and his wife, Mary Pat, attending the Emirates stadium in north London to see Arsenal triumph 5-0 against Aston Villa in the Premier League.

Speaking to reporters before he left for the UK, Christie said: “I’m looking forward to going to the Arsenal game and hopefully watch a bit of the Super Bowl as well and do the work we need to do to bring more jobs back to New Jersey by creating a stronger relationship between our state and our third largest trading partner.”

While the precise timings of his three-day visit have not been released, the burly, Bruce Springsteen-worshipping Christie is scheduled to go to Cambridge to visit research scientists at the pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca. On returning to London he will dine with Cameron and some other cabinet ministers, and see the US ambassador, Matthew Barzun.

The governor’s officials told AP that Christie would also tour Hope House, a London addiction treatment centre which has been supported by the royal family, describing this as a reciprocal arrangement for Christie assisting a 2013 visit by Prince Harry to see the damage caused by hurricane Sandy in New Jersey. He is not due, however, to meet the prince again.

Christie has yet to formally declare his candidacy but is expected to do so soon. He would be a high-profile candidate, albeit one whose popularity levels have fluctuated, with a plain-spoken, populist style and fondness for becoming embroiled in minor spats with members of the public.

He has previously argued publicly with a protester complaining about delays to post-Sandy recovery work, eventually telling him to “sit down and shut up”.

Last year, he was criticised by a nurse who was forced to spend three weeks in quarantine in New Jersey after returning from treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, despite showing no signs of the disease.

Christie’s biggest political controversy involved allegations that he was involved in a politically motivated plan to close lanes on key bridge linking his state with New York in 2013, allegedly to cause disruptive traffic jams in the town on the New Jersey side of the bridge after its mayor declined to endorse Christie in the upcoming election for governor. Christie denied any such role and a federal investigation uncovered no evidence for his involvement.